Agriculture and livelihoods improvement program

The ExxonMobil PNG community livelihoods improvement program educates and encourages community groups to improve the skills of their members and to generate household and group income from small enterprise development.

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Agriculture and livelihoods improvement program

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One of the ways ExxonMobil PNG is supporting the nation’s relief efforts following the devastation of the earthquake in 2018, is through the re-establishment of food gardens in a number of project area communities in partnership with the ANU Enterprise (ANUE).

ANUE distributed some 490 kilograms of quick growing corn seed that can be harvested within 100 days of planting, 500,000 vegetative cuttings for longer-term staples like sweet potato and cassava and spades to help families cultivate their gardens. Green bean and Pakchoi seeds were also grown for wider distribution.

We have been working with ExxonMobil PNG and target communities in the Hides area since operations began in 2014 to address food security, vulnerabilities and income generation. To support the restoration of communities recovering from the earthquake, our teams assisted them with initial planting materials so that they will be able to grow their own food and generate cash crops again.

Owen Hughes

ANUE Project Manager

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Communities who have benefited from the improved skills and knowledge from the livelihoods improvement program are in turn helping others to replant.

The sweet potato and cassava cuttings are being grown by the Belopa, 3-Ways, Kapote and Payaipa community groups at Hides. The Payaipa women’s group is growing bean and Pakchoi seeds. The cuttings and seeds are being brought back through the community livelihood improvement program to supply more communities nearby, in addition to providing important income.

ANUE’s broader support programs cover the creation of small-medium enterprises through improved agricultural and livestock management practices, food and nutrition training, and financial literacy training and since its inception, has helped to build self-reliance in 20 communities near PNG LNG operations.

ANUE and ExxonMobil PNG are aiming to generate sustainable economic benefits to more than 900 rural households. The partnership was broadened in 2018 to partner with community-based organisations and small-medium enterprises to engage disenfranchised groups in the community with tailored assistance to improve their livelihood status.

In Papua New Guinea, over six million people, approximately 87% of the population, live in rural communities and the majority depend on subsistence agriculture as a means of survival. Advancing agricultural production to create resilience and sustainability within communities in PNG LNG Project areas has been a high priority of ExxonMobil.